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knightcetiesAt long last, I've finished a pair of FSTs for Ace. Ace is a character that I have great affection for. The years I played him in Aather have also, I think, been defining ones; certainly that was the longest I've ever played a character anywhere.
As such, this is a pair of FSTs: One dedicated to canon Ace, a last hurrah in the light of Quinrose's closing, and one dedicated to Ace's time in Aather. The former is on 8tracks, but each track of both are linked to YouTube.
> Listen on 8tracks <
Low - Murderer
Don't act so innocent
I've seen you pound your fist into the earth
And I've read your books
It seems that you could use another fool
Well, I'm cruel
This is a very short song, but there's a slow and terrible menace to it and the dedication in this words. I've always seen it as Ace's dedication to Julius, doing the dirty work that Julius can't/won't do. But at the same time, when viewed in that light, there's a sly condescension and mockery to it.
This has always felt like a really fundamental Ace songcall to me, in the way it ties together his brutality, cynicism, self-loathing, and above all, loyalty.
The Hoosiers - Killer
I hate my work but I'm in control
I'm fearless now but it cost my soul
Annnnd this is...basically the thesis statement of Ace's personality! But I didn't realize this until I read backstory stuff that wasn't even revealed until after Aather was gone. I will now summarize for context.
Ace was raised by an alternate version of Julius Monrey, who was fated to die in all alternate timelines and possibilities. Ace tried to protect him and failed, so he made a deal with the Joker to become the Executioner (i.e. person who kills a lot for the Game) if Julius would become the Clockmaker, a role that would sort-of-but-not-really preserve him from death. Then he went to the Land of Hearts and hooked up with the canon Julius and they became BFFLs.
Ace has a lot of conflicted feelings about how well his deal worked out, but the dichotomy between he hates his situation/he wants this situation is the central push/pull of his character. And these two lines encapsulate that perfectly.
Godsmack - Greed
Two faced! I feel you crawling under my skin
Sickened by your face
I've always seen Ace as a fundamentally angry character. To me, he walks around keeping a very tight lid on what is a bottomless but also impotent rage at his entire life; the people in it who he hates, the job(s) he hates, the untenable situation of where he is, just...everything! He is very self-controlled and has a long fuse, he's not necessarily aggressive...but at his core, he is not a kind or peaceful soul.
Also the first two lines (quoted here) were Ace->Vivaldi to me for a long time... And after his backstory stuff, I think they're even more fitting for Ace->Joker. (Joker has this multiple personality thing going on.)
Scissor Sisters - I Can't Decide
It's not easy having yourself a good time
Greasing up those bets and betters
Watching out they don't four-letter
I feel like the light, jaunty tone contrasting with the creepy lyrics about killing is very Ace. And also accurately encapsulates his attitude toward taking lives, which is "lol whatever."
I particularly like this song for the part where the singer briefly seems to be about to lose their temper (It takes the truth to fool me / And now you've made me angry) before immediately reverting to the initial jaunty tone. That is very much an Ace affectation, and also central to how I see him as having a ton of self-control. He's always seemed like a person who puts effort into commanding how he presents himself.
Assemblage 23 - Let Me Be Your Armor
Let me take the blows
That were meant for you
Let me help you with the trials
You're going through
Let me stifle you
Let me have control
Let me smother
Every aspect of your soul
Ace is very possessive and condescending towards his things, the end. Substitute in Alice, Julius, Zero... I love the progression from "I will protect you" to "haha never mind I'm a terrifying controlling tool." Which is very Ace too since I always envision his personality as having this very liminal aspect; like, his various traits exist on a continuum of "safe" to "unsafe abort abort abort" and that's what makes him so interesting to me, that his good traits are also his bad ones.
The quote seriously doesn't do this song any justice. It's all about the progression.
The Weakerthans - Aside
And I'm leaning on this broken fence
Between past and present tense
And I'm losing all those stupid games
That I swore I'd never play
But it almost feels okay
And now for something completely different: A non-awful song about Ace! This song does a good job of capturing Ace's adventuring/wandering spirit, and feels a bit like a hopeful ending for him. The upbeat tone about eventually finding what you're looking for at the end of a long and meandering road. In (some of) Ace's good ends, he does seem like he eventually reaches a point where he has some direction out of the emotional mire he's lost himself in.
Rasputina - Incapable of Regret
I still want what I tried to get
I've been a warmonger for so long
I try to admit I'm wrong, but yet
I am incapable of regret
Anyway back to not-happy songs for Ace. This song is one of the first songcalls I ever made for him and it's survived till now on that alone... But I do think it's fitting for him, as it's a mighty cosmic shrug at the fact that, when he made the deal to resurrect Julius, he didn't actually save any existing Julius, just ensure that a Julius would exist forever. So the Juliuses that he has known and cared for are still marked for death. So in the end, has he really saved anything at all? And yet.
Anastacia - Underground Army
Can't trust the view, that lens is fooling you
You see half when there's whole,
So I'll stick around and help you figure out
These situations come and go
But okay, here is a more genuine song about Ace's loyalty. If his allegiance is demanded he will run for the fucking hills, but if he decides to pledge himself than his dedication is unshakeable. He is, genuinely, a loyal person who deeply values those who are closest to him. (Not necessarily in a healthy or good way, but he does.) I like the martial imagery of this song because that is definitely how Ace's loyalty plays out, I think; in that sense, he really is like the knightly ideal.
Mika - Happy Ending
This is the hardest story that I've ever told
No hope or love or glory
Happy endings gone forever more
And a final pick that's a bit out of left field. But there's a very resigned feel to this song that I feel fits Ace very well. Whether or not he made the right decision about reviving Julius, he did it, and he's stuck with it. And while he agonizes over it still, he's also shrugged and accepted that he's never going to get what he really wanted, but at least he'll get something that's close enough.
I like the lines I picked out especially because Ace's backstory came out as him guiding Alice through a series of flashbacks, so it fits that specific moment, too.
The song is also a bit shippier than I usually like for Ace and Julius, but I still think it works. I could see Ace sleeping with an alternate Julius as a form of self-flagellation because he has Emotional Issues(TM) and that's how he rolls.
ETA 5/17/2019: Knocked off Running Up That Hill by Placebo. Adding some new ones. Revised some of the commentary, too.
Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfill you
It longs to kill you
Are you willing to die?
God, why did I leave this off my FST the first time around??? I have no idea what logic lead me to make that decision. Anyway, this song is very specifically Joker to Ace and their little ~arrangement~ of Ace being the Executioner and Julius the Clockmaker. And as a result it works really well as a commentary on that deal and what, exactly, Ace didn't get out of it.
Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page
Can you lie next to her
And give her your heart, your heart
As well as your body
And can you lie next to her
And confess your love, your love
As well as your folly
I gave up and added this one here as well as to the Aather songs (below). It just applies to Ace's jealousy and possessiveness really well, okay. In this case, it's specifically about his feelings toward Julius/Alice, feeling shut out from both, yet longing for them both too. Which of them is he more jealous of, anyway?
Daughtry - Crashed
Where I've been, well, it's all a blur
What I was looking for, I'm not sure
Too late and didn't see you coming
And then I crashed into you
And the flip side! A song for Ace->Alice. It's a bit generic, since I think Alice radically changes everyone she meets in Wonderland... But I think the opening stanza of being lost/confused and the resolution being "this is a disaster, probably" makes it a very Ace take on Alice.
The fun thing is that if you were to do a cover with a female vocalist it fits Alice->Ace as much the same reasoning. 8)
(BONUS TRACK: My one Ace/Alice songcall is lovelythe band - Broken. Imagine it as Alice's POV on Ace, and Ace as the chorus. They're pretty fucked up together, you guys.)
Miike Snow - Animal
I change shapes just to hide in this place but I'm still, I'm still an animal
Nobody knows it but me when I slip, yeah I slip
I'm still an animal
This is it, this is Ace in Aather. Just...go listen to it.
Everything else is Ace/Zero.
Merril Bainbridge - Mouth
Would it be my fault if I could turn you on?
Would I be so bad if I could turn you on?
USTTTTTTT
Lady Gaga - Teeth
Got no salvation (no salvation)
Got no religion (no religion)
Take a bite of my bad girl meat
Show me your teeth
A song for sexy bloodsucking. Also, did you know Ace is super into the fact that Zero is a terrifyingly powerful vampire/hunter? Well, now you do.
Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page
Can you lie next to her
And give her your heart, your heart
As well as your body
And can you lie next to her
And confess your love, your love
As well as your folly
A song for Ace being super double plus extra jealous of Yuuki.
The chorus is also obliquely fits in with Ace's sentiment about trying to kill Yuuki and Kaname via the Book (But tell me now, where was my fault / In loving you with my whole heart). He mostly regrets failing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And in the end he got to keep Zero all to himself so SUCKS 2 BE U YUUKI.
Lemon Demon- Kitten is Angry
Kitten is angry, full of discontentment
Wildly attacking random pieces of lint
Darting around in a psychotic blitz
And throwing all these hissy fits
But I still love my kitty cat to bits
In some ways Ace is very...condescending...about Zero, specifically in his attitude about how Zero is in fact a tremendous squishy. (It's okay, Ace will kill things for him so he doesn't have to hurt his soft squishy insides with the dirty work.)
The kitty imagery in this song is extra hilarious considering Zero was able to turn into a snow leopard in Aather. I'm... I'm sorry Zero.
I had a happy ending song on here but at the last minute I decided to take it out. But they had one! Believe it!
As such, this is a pair of FSTs: One dedicated to canon Ace, a last hurrah in the light of Quinrose's closing, and one dedicated to Ace's time in Aather. The former is on 8tracks, but each track of both are linked to YouTube.
> Listen on 8tracks <
Low - Murderer
Don't act so innocent
I've seen you pound your fist into the earth
And I've read your books
It seems that you could use another fool
Well, I'm cruel
This is a very short song, but there's a slow and terrible menace to it and the dedication in this words. I've always seen it as Ace's dedication to Julius, doing the dirty work that Julius can't/won't do. But at the same time, when viewed in that light, there's a sly condescension and mockery to it.
This has always felt like a really fundamental Ace songcall to me, in the way it ties together his brutality, cynicism, self-loathing, and above all, loyalty.
The Hoosiers - Killer
I hate my work but I'm in control
I'm fearless now but it cost my soul
Annnnd this is...basically the thesis statement of Ace's personality! But I didn't realize this until I read backstory stuff that wasn't even revealed until after Aather was gone. I will now summarize for context.
Ace was raised by an alternate version of Julius Monrey, who was fated to die in all alternate timelines and possibilities. Ace tried to protect him and failed, so he made a deal with the Joker to become the Executioner (i.e. person who kills a lot for the Game) if Julius would become the Clockmaker, a role that would sort-of-but-not-really preserve him from death. Then he went to the Land of Hearts and hooked up with the canon Julius and they became BFFLs.
Ace has a lot of conflicted feelings about how well his deal worked out, but the dichotomy between he hates his situation/he wants this situation is the central push/pull of his character. And these two lines encapsulate that perfectly.
Godsmack - Greed
Two faced! I feel you crawling under my skin
Sickened by your face
I've always seen Ace as a fundamentally angry character. To me, he walks around keeping a very tight lid on what is a bottomless but also impotent rage at his entire life; the people in it who he hates, the job(s) he hates, the untenable situation of where he is, just...everything! He is very self-controlled and has a long fuse, he's not necessarily aggressive...but at his core, he is not a kind or peaceful soul.
Also the first two lines (quoted here) were Ace->Vivaldi to me for a long time... And after his backstory stuff, I think they're even more fitting for Ace->Joker. (Joker has this multiple personality thing going on.)
Scissor Sisters - I Can't Decide
It's not easy having yourself a good time
Greasing up those bets and betters
Watching out they don't four-letter
I feel like the light, jaunty tone contrasting with the creepy lyrics about killing is very Ace. And also accurately encapsulates his attitude toward taking lives, which is "lol whatever."
I particularly like this song for the part where the singer briefly seems to be about to lose their temper (It takes the truth to fool me / And now you've made me angry) before immediately reverting to the initial jaunty tone. That is very much an Ace affectation, and also central to how I see him as having a ton of self-control. He's always seemed like a person who puts effort into commanding how he presents himself.
Assemblage 23 - Let Me Be Your Armor
Let me take the blows
That were meant for you
Let me help you with the trials
You're going through
Let me stifle you
Let me have control
Let me smother
Every aspect of your soul
Ace is very possessive and condescending towards his things, the end. Substitute in Alice, Julius, Zero... I love the progression from "I will protect you" to "haha never mind I'm a terrifying controlling tool." Which is very Ace too since I always envision his personality as having this very liminal aspect; like, his various traits exist on a continuum of "safe" to "unsafe abort abort abort" and that's what makes him so interesting to me, that his good traits are also his bad ones.
The quote seriously doesn't do this song any justice. It's all about the progression.
The Weakerthans - Aside
And I'm leaning on this broken fence
Between past and present tense
And I'm losing all those stupid games
That I swore I'd never play
But it almost feels okay
And now for something completely different: A non-awful song about Ace! This song does a good job of capturing Ace's adventuring/wandering spirit, and feels a bit like a hopeful ending for him. The upbeat tone about eventually finding what you're looking for at the end of a long and meandering road. In (some of) Ace's good ends, he does seem like he eventually reaches a point where he has some direction out of the emotional mire he's lost himself in.
Rasputina - Incapable of Regret
I still want what I tried to get
I've been a warmonger for so long
I try to admit I'm wrong, but yet
I am incapable of regret
Anyway back to not-happy songs for Ace. This song is one of the first songcalls I ever made for him and it's survived till now on that alone... But I do think it's fitting for him, as it's a mighty cosmic shrug at the fact that, when he made the deal to resurrect Julius, he didn't actually save any existing Julius, just ensure that a Julius would exist forever. So the Juliuses that he has known and cared for are still marked for death. So in the end, has he really saved anything at all? And yet.
Anastacia - Underground Army
Can't trust the view, that lens is fooling you
You see half when there's whole,
So I'll stick around and help you figure out
These situations come and go
But okay, here is a more genuine song about Ace's loyalty. If his allegiance is demanded he will run for the fucking hills, but if he decides to pledge himself than his dedication is unshakeable. He is, genuinely, a loyal person who deeply values those who are closest to him. (Not necessarily in a healthy or good way, but he does.) I like the martial imagery of this song because that is definitely how Ace's loyalty plays out, I think; in that sense, he really is like the knightly ideal.
Mika - Happy Ending
This is the hardest story that I've ever told
No hope or love or glory
Happy endings gone forever more
And a final pick that's a bit out of left field. But there's a very resigned feel to this song that I feel fits Ace very well. Whether or not he made the right decision about reviving Julius, he did it, and he's stuck with it. And while he agonizes over it still, he's also shrugged and accepted that he's never going to get what he really wanted, but at least he'll get something that's close enough.
I like the lines I picked out especially because Ace's backstory came out as him guiding Alice through a series of flashbacks, so it fits that specific moment, too.
The song is also a bit shippier than I usually like for Ace and Julius, but I still think it works. I could see Ace sleeping with an alternate Julius as a form of self-flagellation because he has Emotional Issues(TM) and that's how he rolls.
ETA 5/17/2019: Knocked off Running Up That Hill by Placebo. Adding some new ones. Revised some of the commentary, too.
Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfill you
It longs to kill you
Are you willing to die?
God, why did I leave this off my FST the first time around??? I have no idea what logic lead me to make that decision. Anyway, this song is very specifically Joker to Ace and their little ~arrangement~ of Ace being the Executioner and Julius the Clockmaker. And as a result it works really well as a commentary on that deal and what, exactly, Ace didn't get out of it.
Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page
Can you lie next to her
And give her your heart, your heart
As well as your body
And can you lie next to her
And confess your love, your love
As well as your folly
I gave up and added this one here as well as to the Aather songs (below). It just applies to Ace's jealousy and possessiveness really well, okay. In this case, it's specifically about his feelings toward Julius/Alice, feeling shut out from both, yet longing for them both too. Which of them is he more jealous of, anyway?
Daughtry - Crashed
Where I've been, well, it's all a blur
What I was looking for, I'm not sure
Too late and didn't see you coming
And then I crashed into you
And the flip side! A song for Ace->Alice. It's a bit generic, since I think Alice radically changes everyone she meets in Wonderland... But I think the opening stanza of being lost/confused and the resolution being "this is a disaster, probably" makes it a very Ace take on Alice.
The fun thing is that if you were to do a cover with a female vocalist it fits Alice->Ace as much the same reasoning. 8)
(BONUS TRACK: My one Ace/Alice songcall is lovelythe band - Broken. Imagine it as Alice's POV on Ace, and Ace as the chorus. They're pretty fucked up together, you guys.)
Miike Snow - Animal
I change shapes just to hide in this place but I'm still, I'm still an animal
Nobody knows it but me when I slip, yeah I slip
I'm still an animal
This is it, this is Ace in Aather. Just...go listen to it.
Everything else is Ace/Zero.
Merril Bainbridge - Mouth
Would it be my fault if I could turn you on?
Would I be so bad if I could turn you on?
USTTTTTTT
Lady Gaga - Teeth
Got no salvation (no salvation)
Got no religion (no religion)
Take a bite of my bad girl meat
Show me your teeth
A song for sexy bloodsucking. Also, did you know Ace is super into the fact that Zero is a terrifyingly powerful vampire/hunter? Well, now you do.
Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page
Can you lie next to her
And give her your heart, your heart
As well as your body
And can you lie next to her
And confess your love, your love
As well as your folly
A song for Ace being super double plus extra jealous of Yuuki.
The chorus is also obliquely fits in with Ace's sentiment about trying to kill Yuuki and Kaname via the Book (But tell me now, where was my fault / In loving you with my whole heart). He mostly regrets failing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And in the end he got to keep Zero all to himself so SUCKS 2 BE U YUUKI.
Lemon Demon- Kitten is Angry
Kitten is angry, full of discontentment
Wildly attacking random pieces of lint
Darting around in a psychotic blitz
And throwing all these hissy fits
But I still love my kitty cat to bits
In some ways Ace is very...condescending...about Zero, specifically in his attitude about how Zero is in fact a tremendous squishy. (It's okay, Ace will kill things for him so he doesn't have to hurt his soft squishy insides with the dirty work.)
The kitty imagery in this song is extra hilarious considering Zero was able to turn into a snow leopard in Aather. I'm... I'm sorry Zero.
I had a happy ending song on here but at the last minute I decided to take it out. But they had one! Believe it!
